WO2002022342A1

WO2002022342A1 - Device for shaping plastic objects under inert atmosphere

Info

Publication number: WO2002022342A1
Application number: PCT/FR2001/002798
Authority: WO
Inventors: Olivier Negro; Sami Dick; Marc Leturmy; Stéphane Melen
Original assignee: L'air Liquide, Societe Anonyme A Directoire Et Conseil De Surveillance Pour L'etude Et L'exploitation Des Procedes Georges Claude
Priority date: 2000-09-13
Filing date: 2001-09-10
Publication date: 2002-03-21
Also published as: EP1318903A1; BR0113865A; CN1455728A; JP2004508970A; CN1191923C; FR2813817B1; CA2421696A1; JP4786861B2; FR2813817A1; AU8784001A; DE60111754D1; AU2001287840B2; DE60111754T2; ES2243548T3; US20040005379A1; ATE298658T1; EP1318903B1; US7147460B2

Abstract

The invention concerns a device for producing plastic objects by shaping under inert atmosphere, comprising a hopper (1), an endless screw and means for shaping melted polymer. The device for injecting inert gas comprises a gas supply conduit (3), a gas injection surface at the hopper (1) wall and a homogenising chamber co-operating between the hopper (1) wall and the gas supply conduit (3). The end (32) of the gas supply conduit (3) oriented towards the injection surface is closed and has at least a radial orifice (33) for ejecting gas perpendicularly to its flow direction in the conduit.

Description

DEVICE FOR SHAPING PLASTIC OBJECTS

UNDER INERT ATMOSPHERE.

The invention relates to an inerting process applicable to the production of plastic objects by extrusion or injection.

The extrusion or injection of plastic is a known process which consists in melting a polymer and continuously supplying a die or injection head with the molten polymer to form it. This process generally involves: - a polymer feed hopper, into which the polymer is introduced in the form of powder or granules,

means of transport, heating and kneading of the polymer coming from the hopper, for example a heating endless screw,

- An extrusion head consisting of a die head giving the polymer the desired shape or an injection head towards a mold.

It is known that during this type of process, and in particular the step of melting in the worm, certain polymers can be sensitive to the presence of oxygen, the latter degrading the final properties of the plastic used. shape (yellowing, crosslinking of the polymer, variation in molecular weight). The Applicant has also observed that oxygen leads to:

- fouling of the shaping device, which makes it necessary to clean and therefore stop the production tool regularly, resulting in high maintenance costs and production losses. - the presence of deposits on the surface of the shaped polymer.

To remedy the problem of degradation of the final properties of the shaped plastic, it is known to add antioxidants to the starting polymer. However, these additives significantly increase the cost of producing plastic. Another solution of the prior art consists in shaping the polymer in the presence of an inert gas. This solution was, for example, developed in application EP-A1-0 760 278. According to the method described in this application, the best inerting results could only be obtained by introducing the inert gas in a specific location of the worm . In the case of an existing industrial installation, the introduction of inert gas at the level of the worm can be complicated or even impossible, since the cylinder of the screw must be pierced without this drilling disturbing the subsequent operation of the screw. In addition, this preferred implementation only made it possible to lower the residual oxygen content in the nitrogen to a value of 1% by volume.

An object of the present invention is to provide a device for shaping under an inert atmosphere which makes it possible in particular to easily modify an already existing industrial installation and to obtain a lowering of the oxygen content greater than that of the prior art.

For this purpose, the invention firstly relates to a device for producing plastic objects by shaping a polymer, said device comprising: - a polymer supply hopper,

- means for heating and moving the polymer during melting,

means for shaping the molten polymer, and

- at least one gas injection means into the hopper, said gas injection means comprising: • at least one gas injection surface at the wall of the hopper, • a gas supply pipe of the hopper by this gas injection surface:

. one end of which is connected to a gas source,. the other end of which, which is directed towards the injection surface, is closed, . and which has at least one radial opening o allowing the gas to be ejected perpendicularly to its direction of circulation in the pipe, and • a homogenization chamber cooperating between the wall of the hopper and the wall of the gas supply pipe. so that the gas leaving the opening o enters the hopper through the injection surface.

The means for heating and moving the polymer during melting generally consist of a temperature-regulated cylinder inside which at least one worm is placed. This type of screw also ensures the mixing of the polymer during melting. The means for shaping the molten polymer are in the case of extrusion usually a die head having a geometric shape adapted to the desired shaping: plate, film (flat die), profile, tube (circular die). If the molten polymer is shaped by injection, the shaping means is then a mold.

The feed hopper is usually a receptacle having funnel-shaped discharge sections through which the polymer flows by gravity. It may include means for regulating the flow of the polymer such as rotary or vibration agitators or a forcing screw. According to the invention, the hopper has on at least one of its walls a gas injection means. This gas injection means comprises at the wall of the hopper at least one gas injection surface. This injection surface can consist of a porous or injection orifices, preferably at least one orifice O. This orifice O can be directly drilled in the wall of the hopper or drilled in a plate itself fixed on the wall of the hopper instead of an opening in the wall. This latter implementation may correspond to the case where the present invention is applied to a shaping device already in use and which must be adapted; thus, it is possible to replace a viewing window generally present on the wall of the hopper with a plate pierced with at least minus an orifice O and fixed to the wall of the hopper. The orifice (s) O preferably create a flow of gas oriented towards the bottom of the hopper: the axis of the injection orifice (s) O can have an angle of at least 30 ° with the horizontal axis. It is also preferable that the gas injection means is set back from the passage of the polymer in the hopper and does not enter the internal volume of the hopper. Thus, it can be placed flush with the internal wall of the hopper. This is the case when the gas injection orifice O is a simple hole drilled in the wall of the hopper. According to a very particular mode, the injection orifice (s) O can be replaced by a porous. These orifices O are part of the means for injecting gas into the hopper, which also comprises a gas supply pipe to these orifices O for injecting gas and a homogenization chamber cooperating between the wall of the hopper and the wall of the supply line. The homogenization chamber can be of any possible shape. Its volume is preferably fixed so that the speed of the gas in said chamber is less than the speed of the gas in the orifice or orifices O drilled in the wall of the hopper. It must be sealed so as to ensure the passage of gas from the gas supply line to the gas injection orifices O. For example, elastomer seals can be deposited on the edges of the homogenization chamber in contact with the wall of the hopper and on the edges of the homogenization chamber in contact with the wall of the supply line.

According to the preferred mode, the section A of the homogenization chamber in contact with the wall of the hopper and the sections ai of the gas injection orifices O drilled at the wall of the hopper verify the following relationship: the ratio A / Σai is greater than or equal to 1, preferably greater than or equal to 1.5, ∑aj representing the sum of the sections of the orifices O. In practice, the gas injection orifices O drilled in the wall of the hopper all have the same section a. The gas is brought into the homogenization chamber by the gas supply line which can have a cross section of varied shape such as round, square or rectangular. One end of the pipe is connected to a source of inert gas such as nitrogen. The other end is directed towards the orifice (s) O and is closed in its cross section. The pipe has at least one radial opening o allowing gas to be ejected perpendicularly to its direction of flow in the pipeline and towards the homogenization chamber. If more than one opening exists, these are usually located in the same cross section of the gas supply line. According to the preferred mode, the internal section S of the gas supply pipe and the sections if openings o verify the following relationship: the ratio S / ΣSj is greater than or equal to 1, preferably greater than or equal to 1.5 , ∑s, representing the sum of the sections Sj of the openings o. The radial opening (s) o of the gas supply pipe can all have the same cross section. According to a particular embodiment, the gas supply pipe has four openings o placed in the same cross section of the pipe.

The characteristics of the invention make it possible to obtain a laminar flow of the gas in the hopper and at a speed which does not disturb the flow of the polymer in this hopper. If several orifices O exist in the wall of the hopper, the means for injecting gas into the hopper according to the invention makes it possible to obtain an identical inert gas flow rate in each orifice O.

The injection means can be placed at any height of the hopper relative to the screw without the inerting results being modified.

Depending on the diameter of the hopper, several injection means of the above type can be placed on the wall of said hopper. These injection means are then generally placed at the same height in the hopper relative to the screw and equidistant from each other. By using the device according to the invention, the inert gas introduced into the hopper is firstly entrained with the polymer in the extruder, then pushed back towards the hopper against the flow of the polymer flow and finally discharged from the extruder by the hopper. This implementation makes it possible to form an inert gas buffer at the level of the hopper. The gas can be any neutral gas usually used for inerting polymers. Generally, it is nitrogen and preferably nitrogen obtained cryogenically. So-called impure nitrogen can be used which may contain oxygen and / or argon, or even CO or C0 ₂ , the nitrogen content in the gas being at least 95% and the oxygen content not more than 5%. This type of gas based on impure nitrogen can come from a process of gas separation from air using a membrane. However, this type of gas can only be used when it is sought to obtain a relatively low oxygen atmosphere, that is to say capable of raising up to 5% by volume. Optionally, the gas used can be preheated to a temperature close to the melting temperature of the treated polymer before being injected. However, this preheating does not influence the quality of the inerting.

By nitrogen injection obtained by cryogenic means, the device according to the invention makes it possible to form polymers under an oxygen atmosphere of less than 100 ppm for a nitrogen injection speed of less than 50 m / s , or even less than 20 m / s and even less than 3 m / s, depending on the shape and the flow rate of the polymer introduced. It has also been found that this device has made it possible to significantly reduce the fouling of the worm and the die head, limiting the downtime of the machine for cleaning and increasing the productivity, which has made it possible to reduce , or even eliminate the use of antioxidant.

An advantage of the device according to the invention is that the means for injecting the inert gas can be placed at any height of the hopper relative to the screw without the inerting results being affected. It is therefore possible to modify existing industrial installations by adapting to each particular case. Another advantage is that very effective inerting is obtained by injecting the inert gas at a single point in the process and without the need to heat the gas.

The invention also relates to the use of the above device for shaping, in particular by extrusion, of high or low density polyethylene or of polypropylene, introduced in the form of granules or powders.

Finally, the invention relates to a gas injection means adaptable to the feed hopper of any type of device requiring the injection of a gas, such as an inerting gas. This means of injection includes:

• a gas supply line:

. one end of which is connected to a gas source,. the other end of which is closed,

. and which has at least one radial opening o allowing ejection of the gas perpendicular to its direction of flow in the pipe, and

• a homogenization chamber cooperating with the gas supply line so that the gas ejected from the opening o enters the homogenization chamber. The preferred technical characteristics of this injection means are identical to those defined above for the device for producing plastic objects by shaping a polymer using this same gas injection means. This injection means can be fixed to a hole drilled in the wall of the feed hopper so as to be able to supply the hopper with gas and, preferably, respecting the characteristics defined above for the ratio of the sections A / Σa-, (A being the section of the homogenization chamber in contact with the wall of the hopper and a-, being the sections of the gas injection orifices O drilled at the wall of the hopper). This gas injection means can be adapted to all devices requiring the injection of a gas at their feed hopper, which may be the case of devices for cryopreducing food products or plastics.

Figures 1 and 2 schematically illustrate sections of devices suitable for the implementation of the invention. The devices are adapted to a hopper allowing a polymer to be introduced into the conduit of an endless screw, this endless screw opening onto a die head.

In Figure 1, a gas injection means is arranged on the wall of the hopper (1). He understands :

• 3 circular O gas injection holes (21), 0.55 cm in diameter, drilled in a plate (5) screwed onto the wall of the hopper instead of a viewing window; these orifices O (21) are oriented downwards at an angle of 30 ° with the horizontal axis.

• a gas supply line (3) to these O gas injection orifices (21). It is a pipe of circular section and diameter 1.5 cm. Its end (31) is connected to a gas source. Its other end (32) is blocked. In its portion close to the blocked end (32), the pipe has four circular openings o (33) all of the same diameter (0.5 cm) placed in the same cross section of the pipe and equidistant from each other. The S / ΣSj ratio is 2.25.

• a homogenization chamber (4) whose section is circular and whose internal diameter is 3.6 cm. A silicone seal

(6) seals the chamber with the wall of the hopper. The ratio A / ∑ai is 14.3.

In FIG. 2, the hopper comprises a means for injecting gas into the hopper comprising: • 7 circular O gas injection holes (21), 0.5 cm in diameter, drilled in a plate screwed onto the wall of the hopper (1) in place of a viewing window; these orifices O (21) are oriented downwards at an angle of 30 ° with horizontal tax. • a gas supply line (3) to these O gas injection orifices (21). It is a pipe of circular section and diameter 1.5 cm. Its end (31) is connected to a gas source. Its other end (32) is blocked. In its portion close to the blocked end (32), the pipe has four circular openings o (33) all of the same diameter (0.5 cm) placed in the same cross section of the pipe and equidistant from each other. The S / ΣSj ratio is 2.25.

• a homogenization chamber (4) whose section is circular and whose internal diameter is 5 cm. A silicone seal (6) seals the chamber with the wall of the hopper. The report

EXAMPLES

Example 1

The injection means described in Figure 1 is placed on the wall of a hopper at a distance of 1.50 m above the worm. The hopper is supplied with polyethylene in powder form. The particle size of the powder is 2.5 mm and its feed rate is 24 kg / h. Nitrogen from a cryogenic unit is introduced into the supply line (3) through the end (31) with a flow rate of 1.5 m ³ / h.

A sampling valve is introduced between the hopper and the worm and connected to a probe of an oxygen trace analyzer with an eiectrochemical cell. Using this probe, it can be seen that the oxygen level in the atmosphere between the hopper and the worm is 140 ppm. Example 2

Example 1 is reproduced by placing the injection means at a distance of 30 cm above the worm. All other process conditions are retained. It can be seen that the oxygen rate in the atmosphere between the hopper and the worm is 70 ppm.

Example 3

Two injection means are placed as described in Figure 2 face to face on the wall of a hopper at a distance of 30 cm above the worm. The hopper is supplied with polyethylene in the form of granules. The granulometry of the granule is 2.5 mm and its feed rate of 300 kg / h.

Nitrogen from a cryogenic unit is introduced into the injection pipe (3) through the end (31) with a flow rate of 5 m ³ / h.

A sampling valve is introduced between the hopper and the worm and connected to a probe of an oxygen trace analyzer with an electrochemical cell. Using this probe, it can be seen that the oxygen level in the atmosphere between the hopper and the worm is 30 ppm.

Claims

1. Device for producing plastic objects by shaping a polymer, said device comprising: - a polymer feed hopper (1),

- means for heating and moving the polymer during melting,

means for shaping the molten polymer, and

at least one means for injecting gas into the hopper, characterized in that this means for injecting gas, said means for injecting gas comprises:

• at least one gas injection surface (2) at the wall of the hopper (1),

• a gas supply pipe (3) to the hopper via this gas injection surface:. one end (31) of which is connected to a gas source,

. the other end (32) of which is directed towards the injection surface, is closed,

. and which has at least one radial opening (33) allowing ejection of the gas perpendicular to its direction of flow in the pipe, and

• a homogenization chamber (4) cooperating between the wall of the hopper and the gas supply line (3) so that the gas ejected from the openings o (33) enters the hopper through the surface of injection.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the gas injection surface (2) at the wall of the hopper (1) consists of at least one orifice O (21).

3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the section A of the homogenization chamber (4) in contact with the wall of the hopper and the sections ai of the gas injection orifices O (21) drilled in the wall of the hopper (1) verify the following relationship: the ratio A / Σa, is greater than or equal to 1, preferably greater than or equal to 1.5, ∑aj representing the sum of the sections of the orifices O (21).

4. Device according to any one of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that the orifices O of gas injection (21) drilled in the wall of the hopper (1) create a flow of gas oriented towards the bottom of the hopper (1).

5. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the gas injection surface (2) at the wall of the hopper (1) consists of a porous.

6. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the gas injection means is set back from the passage of the polymer in the hopper (1).

7. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the internal section S of the gas supply pipe (3) and the sections Sj of the openings o verify the following relationship: the ratio S / ΣSj is greater or equal to 1, preferably greater than or equal to 1.5, ∑s, representing the sum of the sections s, the openings o (33).

8. Use of the device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 for the extrusion of polyethylene or polypropylene.

9. Adaptable gas injection means on the feed hopper

(1) of any type of device requiring the injection of a gas, characterized in that the injection means comprises:

• a gas supply line (3):

. one end (31) of which is connected to a gas source,. the other end (32) of which is closed,

. and which has at least one radial opening o (33) allowing ejection of the gas perpendicular to its direction of flow, in the pipe, and

• a homogenization chamber (4) cooperating between the wall of the hopper and the gas supply line (3) so that the gas ejected from the openings o (33) enters the homogenization chamber.

10. Means according to claim 9, characterized in that the internal section S of the gas supply pipe (3) and the sections s, openings o verify the following relationship: the ratio S / Σs, is greater than or equal to 1, preferably greater than or equal to 1, 5, ∑si representing the sum of the sections Sj of the openings o (33).

11. Use of the means according to claim 9 or 10 for inerting a device for producing plastic objects by shaping a polymer.